Avamoria
Avamoria Avamoria is a country within the Nesarian Empire, and the only one to have no head of state. Its representative in the Imperial Government is an appointed position called the Imperial Representative. It is one of the two "Elvish countries", the other one being Elavita. Its state religion is Elveta. Its national animal is the Peregrine Falcon. Avamoria has approximately 13,000,000 citizens, making it the 5th most populous country in the Empire. Like Osdarth and Indissia, Avamoria is essentially a city-state, with much of the economy and politics being dominated by the capital city of Avamoria, and the country taking its name from the city. While Osdarth and Indissia have some degree of local governance, all the territory in Avamoria is ruled directly from the city of Avamoria, and local governors have almost no autonomy. Territory outside the city is split up into regions called districts. Avamoria is populated by Avamorian Elves, the descendants of High Elvish colonists from Elavita, and the native Human population. The Avamorian Humans experienced a similar Elvicisation to the Elvic Nesarians, adopting Elvic traditions and language. There are only a few small communities that still follow the native ways, and these are referred to as the Avamoric people. There is a large mixed population of Half-Elves, but this has never exceeded approximately 20% of the population due to the fact that Half-Elves (mainly the males) experience fertility problems. For more information, see this page. Avamoria became independent from Elavita following an independence war in 190BC. Elavita did not officially recognise Avamoria as an independent state, but did sign a peace agreement, which amounted to essentially the same thing. The Avamorians revolted primarily because they felt they ought to be able to rule themselves, and they hated being under the strict rule of the Elavitan government. This influenced their establishment of a democratic and comparatively liberal republic as opposed to the authoritarian, highly conservative monarchy of Elavita. Avamoria has the second-highest number of Nesarians living in Cratate, with 1 million Nesarians (behind Estemoria, which has 1.5 million). The largest Cratae is Sanacotes, with 490,000 inhabitants. Avamorian is spoken as the primary language, however like with all countries in the Empire, Nesarian is the most frequently learned second language and is used as a lingua franca. Geography Avamoria consists largely of very shallow rolling hills, dotted with small lakes and hundreds of streams and rivers. To the north of Avamoria, more or less where the borders of Avamoria, Draconia and Estemoria meet, is a large expanse of dense old growth forest, and there are patches of woodland dotted around the whole country. The soil is very fertile, and Avamoria is one of the primary bread-baskets of the Empire. Most of the population lives within the large capital city of Avamoria, whereas most of the country is agrarian. This is a deliberate policy on the part of the Avamorian Senate, who have always wanted to centralise their population and therefore their power in the capital, however it has historically made Avamoria vulnerable to revolts from farmers. Avamorian Senate The Avamorian Senate is renowned for its very complex and strange practices and organisation. It consists of one chamber, wherein political parties are banned, which may not go above or below 800 members, and if more than 200 members are absent then Senate meetings cannot be held. Senators are not elected - those wanting to become Senators must first pass a Senatorial Exam, and then their name is added to the Senatorial Candidate List (which will henceforth be shortened to SCL). Only landowners over the age of 18 are able to take the exam, and until 2005, women could not take the exam. The Senatorial Exam consists mainly of essay questions based on history, philosophy, economics and law. Every five years, 300 Senators are voted to remain in office by the rest of the Senate. For the other 500, randomly selected names are taken from the SCL, and those who are chosen become Senators for the next five years. Those on the SCL must re-take the Senatorial Exam every three years, unless they are currently part of the Senate. Those on the SCL can withdraw their name at any time. The number of times your name is added to the SCL depends on how well you performed in the last Senatorial Exam. The grade boundaries are explained below. If your name is selected more than once, only the first time your name came up will count. * Those who passed with 50-59% have their name added to the SCL once. * Those who passed with 60-69% have it added twice. * Those who passed with 70-79% have it added thrice. * Those who passed with 80-89% have it added four times. * Those who passed with over 90% have it added five times. This weights more proficient candidates in favour of being chosen as one of the 800 Senators, however it does not discount those who did badly on the Senatorial Exam but would still make good Senators, the reasoning being that not everyone is good at exams, and highly intelligent people can still do badly on exams. The primary reason for using random chance to select Senators is so that everyone who is qualified to rule gets a chance to do so, as it is better to choose the Senate based on their qualifications alone rather than a popularity contest through elections. However, the reason the creators of the republic gave for this (something rarely cited nowadays) was that the random chance was not actually random, and it was actually placing the decision in the hands of the Gods. To enact legislation, bills must be proposed and approved by the Senate, requiring over half of the Senate to approve the bill. Bills that fail to be passed can be proposed again an unlimited number of times, but the bill is required to be amended; Senators cannot simply propose the same bill again and again. Each normal Senator receives one vote, but there are 20 "Lawmakers" - who are appointed by the Senate every five years - who wield five votes when voting on bills. These Lawmakers are (at least, in theory) those who are the wisest, and who have the deepest understanding of existing laws and the ramifications that the new law could bring. Executive power is held by the Executives, who are appointed by the Senate. Candidates offer themselves up for election, and the two candidates with the most votes go forward to the second round, and then the winner of that vote receives the position. Executives act on the principle of "presumed consent", which means that it is presumed they have the consent of the Senate to take any executive action unless the Senate explicitly objects. If a Senator has an objection to an executive decision, they must find four other Senators to petition the Senate, and then the Senate will vote on whether or not to block the executive action. If the motion receives less than 20% of the votes, all five Senators who petitioned the Senate are expelled from the Senate, although they may rejoin at a later date. This is intended to stop Senators merely trying to block all the executive actions of their political opponents. Executives are chosen every five years alongside the intake of new Senators, but there is no term limit for Executives. If an Executive is found to be incompetent or corrupt, five Senators must petition the Senate to hold a vote of no confidence. An Executive that has been voted out of office may not hold that office ever again, but they may still hold other Executive offices. Flag The flag of Avamoria is two purple bands bordering one thick white band, in which resides a red sun. * The red sun represents King Yakela, leader of the Gods. The sun is his symbol. The red colour represents those who died to defend Avamoria, especially in the war of independence against Elavita. * The two purple bands represent power and the Senate, as purple is the colour of the wealthy and powerful, and it is split in two to represent that the Senate means no single man has all the power. * The white band represents the purity and truth of the Gods.